1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to marine piers, and more particularly to a relatively narrow finger pier which is secured to mainwalk floats in cantilever fashion.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Floating marine piers are commonly constructed with a number of relatively wide mainwalk piers which project from either the land or another pier, and a plurality of spaced-apart finger floats projecting perpendicularly from the mainwalk floats. Individual boats are then moored between the finger floats. Floating marine piers of this design have generally adequately served the needs of most marinas in which they are employed.
Recently the moorage requirements of many marinas have shifted from larger boats to smaller boats and to the compacting of existing facilities. Although large boats are still moored at marinas, an increasing number of small boat owners have elected to moor their boats instead of trailering them to and from a launching point. This trend is undoubtedly due to some extent to the use of smaller cars which are less able to pull even fairly small boats and to the increasing cost of energy consumed in boat trailering.
The increasing need for small boat moorage has resulted in a need for finger floats which are somewhat narrower than those conventionally used in moorages for larger boats. Unfortunately, narrow finger floats often are not able to support the weight of individuals walking along the floats. In order for a float to support a given load, the float must displace a volume of water having a weight equal to the weight of the load. Consequently, the finger float must either be relatively wide or relatively deep to provide the volume necessary to displace a sufficient volume of water to support commonly received loads such as individual and loads they can carry. Relatively wide finger floats are undesirable, as pointed out above, since wide finger floats preclude compact moorage. While relatively thick finger floats do allow compact moorage, they are undesirable because while floating unattached to the mainwalk the float would be thicker than it would be in width; and consequently, natural forces, caused by the center of buoyancy being at a critical point above the water line, force the float to lie on its side. In addition, these floating torsional forces on the finger float require larger and stronger holding devices where attachment is made to the mainwalk. Also, once the finger float is attached to the mainwalk float, a single person carrying a load will submerge the floating finger at the outboard end. This thick finger float exhibiting a relatively large differential between the loaded and the unloaded freeboard at the finger end is unsafe to walk on and does make a transfer from boat to finger float somewhat difficult and hazardous. Furthermore, any finger float, whether it is wide or deep, must use a sufficient volume of material to displace the necessary volume of water. This need to utilize a minimum volume of material causes the floats to be relatively expensive and heavy, thereby resulting in fairly expensive shipping costs.